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While buying almond butter at the store is convenient, the flavor is not always ideal. Trader Joe’s makes the best one I’ve tasted (I like their “raw” Almond Butter), but if you don’t have one of those stores near you, this almond butter recipe is the next best thing.
No added oil is required, so all you’ll need is a little patience. It takes less than 30 minutes, and most of that time is hands-off!
We use this homemade almond butter weekly to make dairy-free lattes, vegan fudge, and almond butter blondies. Once you try this recipe, you might find yourself using almond butter more often, too. I’ve included even more ways to use it below!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“Thank you so, so much — I always had something missing when I made almond butter, thought it needed more oil, but no, it needed more patience — I had no idea it takes that much time, so this was wonderfully helpful.” -Dee
Almond Butter Ingredients
- Almonds. Look for unroasted almonds when shopping, as you will quickly roast them during the first step of this recipe. Even if you’re starting with roasted almonds, it’s a good idea to warm them up as this recipe suggests, so your food processor will have less work to do.
- Salt (optional). You can add salt for extra flavor, if desired. Ground cinnamon can be used, too!
What to Avoid: Don’t add a wet ingredient, like maple syrup, vanilla extract, or honey. Wet ingredients can cause the almond butter to seize (ruining the texture) and make it spoil much faster.
How to Make Almond Butter
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and spread 1 pound (3 cups) of almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast the almonds for 10 minutes or until they smell lightly fragrant. This process helps release the natural oil found in almonds, which will make the next steps proceed much faster.
Remove the pan from the oven and let the almonds cool for 10-15 minutes.
Safety Tip: Adding very hot almonds directly from the oven to a food processor or blender could melt the plastic container if you don’t let them cool down first. So be patient!
Step 2:
Once the almonds have cooled for at least 10 minutes (it’s okay if they feel warm to the touch), add them to the bowl of a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade.
Secure the lid and start processing.
The almonds will creep up the sides of the machine as you blend them, so you can stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula if you prefer. However, around the 4-minute mark, the almonds naturally fall down on their own without any scraping.
Step 3:
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Let the food processor continue to run. After 8 minutes of processing, you may start to hear a “sloshing” sound as the almond butter suddenly becomes runnier.
This is a great sign!
Now you can stop, scrape down the sides of the machine, and add any seasoning you like, such as 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or ground cinnamon. (Remember, no liquids can be added, or it will ruin the texture.)
Step 4:
Process for another minute or two, and you should have a creamy almond butter that drips off the spoon. The whole blending process should take 10 minutes or less when you start with warm almonds.
Note: If you need to skip the roasting process, it may take nearly twice as long for raw almonds to break down in a food processor. It can be done, but it’s definitely harder on your machine and requires more patience. This process can take up to 20 minutes if you start with room-temperature almonds.
Almond Butter Storage Tips
Transfer the homemade almond butter to a 16-ounce mason jar and let it cool completely before securing the lid. Otherwise, steam will collect in the jar, causing the almond butter to spoil more quickly.
Almond butter can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and may last even longer as long as you don’t introduce any moisture to the jar. Nut butter will thicken when chilled, so that can make it slightly harder to spread on toast, but it will thin out when you bring it to room temperature again.
When you have almond butter on hand, making almond milk is easier, too!
How to make Almond Butter in a Blender
If you don’t have a 12-cup food processor but do have a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix), it can also be used to make homemade almond butter. The difference is that you’ll need to use more almonds and a tamper.
Step 1:
To make almond butter in a blender, roast and cool the almonds as directed above, but start with 4 cups of almonds. This is the minimum quantity required to use a blender.
Step 2:
Secure the lid and blend the almonds on a medium-low speed. You’ll need to use a tamper often to keep the almonds moving. (If your blender doesn’t have a tamper, I don’t recommend this method. It’s too frustrating to have to stop and scrape constantly!)
While you might think using a high-speed blender would be faster than using a food processor, it still took my blender 6 to 7 minutes to achieve a creamy result. This is only 1 minute faster than the food processor method, and it’s not nearly as hands-off.
If you have a food processor, it is my preferred machine for this recipe.
Tip: If your blender is having trouble breaking down the roasted almonds, add a tablespoon of neutral-flavored oil to help the process along. You may need to use up to 4 tablespoons total when blending a difficult batch.
How To Make Almond Butter (Without Adding Oil)
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole almonds (about 3 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spread the almonds out in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Place them in the oven to roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until they smell fragrant. Remove the pan and let them cool for at least 10 minutes before moving on. (Placing very hot almonds in your machine could melt it, so be patient!)
- Transfer the cooled almonds (it's okay if they are slightly warm) to a large food processor fitted with an "S" blade. Secure the lid and start processing. The almonds will start to look like flour and stick to the sides of your machine, but after 4 to 5 minutes of processing, it will change into a thicker consistency and release from the sides of the machine.
- You can stop and scrape the sides of your food processor at this point if you'd like to, but the whole process can be relatively hands-off with almost no scraping required. In fact, you can let the machine run for 8 to 10 minutes without scraping, and the nut butter will form on its own! This is the advantage of using a food processor, rather than a blender. (See tips in this post if you prefer to use a blender, though.)
- Once the almonds have been processed for 8 to 10 minutes, they should reach a runny, drippy consistency. At this point, you can add in a 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or ground cinnamon, if you'd like added flavor. Do NOT add any wet ingredients, or it could affect the final texture.
- Store homemade almond butter in a 16-ounce mason jar. It will need to cool completely before you add the lid, so it won't collect steam inside the jar. Adding moisture to the jar could affect the shelf life. Almond butter can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 1 month when no moisture is introduced, so always be sure to use a clean spoon or knife when using it.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Almond Butter Recipes
Now that you have delicious almond butter, here’s how I use it most often.
- Vegan Latte. Almond butter magically turns coffee creamy without specialty milks.
- No-Strain Almond Milk. You can make almond milk in 1 minute with almond butter.
- Vegan Fudge. My kids can make this fudge without me! It’s always in our freezer.
- Almond Butter Blondies. These taste like a deep-dish chocolate chip cookie, only without flour.
- Healthy Birthday Cake. This cake is fruit-sweetened and made with no flour.
- Almond Milk Ice Cream. Almond butter adds creaminess to this dairy-free ice cream.
- Thai Salad Dressing. Swap almond butter for peanut butter in any salad dressing.
If you try this homemade almond butter recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like it.
I make almond butter in my Vitamix all the time. Never smelled anything burning. And it only takes 4-5 min max!! I haven’t purchased any butters in years. Sunflower seed butter was made last night 🙂 Love your site!! The Raspberry Chocolate chip Muffins were a huge hit this season…..even with my non-paleo and “unhealthy” peeps!!
Hi Coco,
I would also like to try making almond butter in my Vitamix. What speed do you recommend and/or do you “pulse” the blender? Also,
do you buy raw almonds and roast them first? Do you put them directly from oven into Vitamix or freeze as some people do? Most of the posts all agree to roast or dehydrate first. Thanks for your tips!
Cindy
How do you make it in your vitamix?? Mine does NOT cooperate it just overheats and shuts off! I use raw almonds and the vitamix reps on the phone said to either use roasted almonds or add oil but that it will not work with just raw almonds in a regular vitamix (i.e.: not the dry mix container). Any tips?? Thank you! 🙂
Thank you for the directions. Very easy. I dumped the almonds in the blender right out of the oven. The process took me less than 10 minutes with the Ninja blender.
I use my old Champion juicer to make almond butter–it is quick and easy for roasted nuts-(I don’t use raw). you need the extra part (can’t remember the name) that is all plastic instead of a screen). It is a pain to clean up but a small flexible rubber spatula helps to get all the butter out. Also you can order fresh raw almonds directly from CA growers through ebay–much cheaper!
I made almond butter using my Blendtec Twister Jar. But even with that, it still took about 10 minutes (takes about 90 seconds to make peanut butter). And it scratched the jar up! Thank you for posting this food processor method, including the various stages and time frames. Very helpful. I have an order of non pasteurized, raw almonds coming directly from a farmer and can’t wait to soak them, crisp them up, and turn them into almond butter.
Check with Blendtec … your Jar must be faulty. I just bought mine about a month ago and use it for my butter. It is done in about 40 – 50 seconds. I do one cup and a 1 tbl of coconut oil.
I will try it. I need a food proccessor. 🙁 I wished I saw this before I soak the almonds. Somehow in my mind soaking them sounded it like the thing to do. I was making almond milk for my son. Maybe that’s where it came from. Thanks anyway. I see myself making this soon.
FYI for anyone trying to make a certain amount, I found that 3 cups of almonds yieled approximately 1.5 cups of almond butter..
Thanks for posting!! I’ve been looking for the amount it makes.
Do you think using a NINJA blender will work as well as the food processer? My fp is really old and not sure it will run for 20 mintues, lol
I’ve never used a Ninja before, but I assume it would work! I’d recommend toasting the almonds in the oven first, to make the process go faster.
I almost gave up…then, like you said, I ignored the process of scraping the sides down, and walked away. But I was peeking from my living room and sure enough the build up on the sides began to fall to the bottom and like you said, just like magic in about 5 more mins. I had Almond Butter.
Although I paid $6 for the raw almonds at Trader’s, about the same price as a jar of Almond Butter…it was fun though.
Oh, one more thing, I did dehydrate them first as one person suggested. Thank you, P.S. I’m trying your Mac-n-Cheese next…..a healthy Mac-n-Cheese!
Yay! I’m glad it worked for you. It definitely does take some patience, but I think it’s worth it! Plus, the organic raw almonds from Trader Joe’s are still cheaper than a $12+ jar of organic almond butter!
Hope you enjoy the Mac n’ Cheese!
Just a an FYI, the Trader Joe’salmonds are steam (flash) pasteurized, so even non organic wouldn’t contain icky processing chemicals.
try BJ’s or costco (your local bulk store). I get a big bag for 10$. not sure the weight but its a much better buy then TJ’s,.
I use my Ninja pulse to make nut butters all the time. They turn out wonderful for me!
Thanks for the additional info, regarding how long it can take for raw nuts. I purchased raw from the bulk section of Whole Foods… never again! They did take longer but they were stale, which increased processig time too, and the flavor just wasn’t there. Your info was great… THANKS!
I’m so happy I found your blog! Thanks for the fabulous recipes!
hey your a ledgend thanks for the recipie its in the making at the moment but so far much more successful than yesterdays attempts with other recipies xx